Galapagos Immersion – 7 Days

We’ll get you back to the airport in time to check in for your two hour flight to Baltra airport in the Galapagos! Here your guide will meet you and together you’ll start the island-hopping – by bus, taxi, and ferry across Itabaca Channel – to a highlands ranch where you can see giant tortoises wandering around. Later we’ll head to Garrapatero Beach where you can take a swim among abundant bird and marine life. This evening, enjoy one of the great aspects of Latin American beachside life – the central street of Puerto Ayora is closed to traffic and restaurants put tables and chairs on the street so kids can run free and everyone can enjoy an al fresco dinner. You’ll feel the stress fall away as you relax into the tropical island vibe!

• Accommodation: Santa Cruz Island
• Meals: Breakfast and lunch included

Today we’ll sail to an uninhabited island on a yacht. Here we’ll wander among land iguanas, blue footed boobies, and dozens of other species of birds. The various uninhabited islands – Santa Fé, Plazas, Bartolomé and Seymour – all have different highlights, such as the lava landscapes of Bartolomé and the frigate bird and iguana breeding grounds of Seymour. We’ll let you know which island we’re thinking of for you when you book your tour – let us know if you have particular interests and we’ll make sure to match you with the island that suits you best!

• Accommodation: Santa Cruz Island
• Meals: Breakfast and lunch included

An early start gets us on the 7am speed boat to Isabela where we’ll get you settled in to your accommodation and oriented for a free morning. You might like to spend this checking out the tortoise breeding centre or the flamingo lagoon, or if you’re a bird lover simply wandering along the stunning, white sand beach, which offers the best opportunity to spot migratory birds in the entire Galapagos! After lunch we’ll take a short boat ride – past reef sharks, blue footed boobies, pelicans and penguins– to the Tintoreras islets, where we’ll take a short hike (be careful here not to step on a marine iguana – they are everywhere!). We’ll also snorkel here in crystalline water, among sea turtles, rays, penguins, and multitudes of different fish.

• Accommodation: Isabela Island
• Meals: Breakfast and lunch included

The 16km (six hours approx.) hike to the Sierra Negra Volcano and back is long, but not at all difficult, and infinitely rewarding! The changing landscapes along the way are fascinating – we start out in lush, ferny forest, then climb (very gently) into an ever drier and more obviously volcanic environment, much of it along the rim of the caldera (crater). Sierra Negra has the largest crater diameter in the Galapagos, and indeed, the second largest in the world – it’s no less than six miles across! As we walk we’ll see smoking fumaroles, lava rockforms, and spectacular views of Elizabeth Bay and the northern volcanoes of Isabela and Fernandina.

Note – if hiking is not your thing, we can offer a different activity on this day – just let us know!

• Accommodation: Isabela Island
• Meals: Breakfast and lunch included

This morning a 45 minute boat ride takes us to Cabo Rosa, where lava flows into the ocean have created hundreds of natural tunnels and arches above and below the water. Here we’ll experience the best snorkeling in the Galapagos, sharing the water with giant sea turtles, sea lions, rays, seahorses and many tropical fish, and observed with interest by sea lions, penguins and blue-footed boobies. Late this afternoon you’ll enjoy some free time to soak up the serenity and beauty of Isabela one last time.

• Accommodation: Isabela Island
• Meals: Breakfast and lunch included

This morning we’ll hop across the islands back to Baltra airport, via speed boat and ferry across two different channels, in time for your flight back to Guayaquil and onwards towards home.

• Meals: Breakfast included